Bhubaneswar tops in Smart City Social Media Campaign race

Ayaskant Das Published On : Nov 21, 2015 at 5:29 PM

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Nov 21:

Bhubaneswar—the capital city of Odisha– has topped in the Smart City Social Media Campaign with over 53,000 page likes and over 11, 000 engagement this week.

BMW’s another all-electric car launched in India

Indian IT services sector to see 2nd-consecutive year of muted revenue growth: Report

Photo:Bhubaneswar - Smart City — Photo: Bhubaneswar – Smart City

The Temple city has topped the list this week with Indore following closely with 51.3k page likes and 2.3k engagement. With a staggering 1.5 crore reach within a month, Bhubaneswar takes the lead in social media campaigning in the entire country.

“People are sharing their dreams and Bhubaneswar shall be remodelled on it. I encourage everyone to give their innovative ideas to make Bhubaneswar a smart city,” Bhubaneswar Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said.

Apart from the social media forum, a ground level press forum is to be organised where opinions will be taken and ideas discussed, said Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Krishan Kumar.

“Only 20 cities will be shortlisted for smart city project this year and they will be selected on the votes given by residents. Citizens are bombarding their suggestions on how to make their city smart and we are actively posting it online for others to share and vote,” said Pratik Mohapatra, head Prelude Digital, the digial wing of a media company that drives Bhubaneswar’s Official Smart City social media campaign.

With contests like Capture Bhubaneswar and Cover Photo Campaign, the online campaign is a continuous effort to engage maximum citizens and voters.

“Considering the entire population of the capital city, if only 30% of it votes, Bhubaneswar will remain in league with a place amongst the top 10 Smart City list,” said Deputy Mayor K Shanti.

As per the notification of the Union government, only the top 20 contenders will be taken up this year for funding for the first two years and given Rs 100 crore each.

The remaining cities will be funded over the next few years. If any of the cities from a state fail to meet the parameters, the state’s quota might be given away to another deserving state. The Union government plans to spend Rs 48,000 crore over the next five years as central assistance to the Smart City project.